The Frick Collection membersannual report’ magazine july winter2018–june 2011 2019 The Frick Collection annual report july 2018–june 2019 leadership 2 Board of Trustees report of the director 3 Ian Wardropper, Anna-Maria and Stephen Kellen Director collection 6 Museum Acquisitions & Notable Library Acquisitions 7 Public Programming financial statements 10 Statement of Financial Position 11 Statement of Activities donor support and membership 12 Gifts and Grants 17 Director’s Circle 18 Fellows and Friends 23 Young Fellows 26 Annual Fund 28 Committees 29 Corporate Members and Sponsors 29 Henry Clay Frick Associates 30 Exhibition Support 32 The Frick Collection Staff cover Luigi Valadier (1726–1785), detail of Herm of Bacchus, 1773, bronze, alabastro a rosa, bianco e nero antico, and africano verde, Galleria Borghese, Rome; photograph by Mauro Magliani The Frick Collection Board of Trustees As of June 30, 2019 Elizabeth M. Eveillard, Chair Aso O. Tavitian, Vice Chair Juan Sabater, Treasurer Michael J. Horvitz, Secretary Peter P. Blanchard III Margot Bogert Ayesha Bulchandani Tai-Heng Cheng Bradford Evans Kathleen Feldstein Barbara G. Fleischman Emily T. Frick Christian Keesee Sidney R. Knafel James S. Reibel, M.D. Charles M. Royce Stephen A. Schwarzman Bernard Selz Victoria Lea Smith Melinda Martin Sullivan J. Fife Symington IV Ian Wardropper, ex officio President Emerita Helen Clay Chace Trustees Emeriti I. Townsend Burden III L. F. Boker Doyle Franklin W. Hobbs Howard Phipps Jr. Annual Report July 2018–June 2019 2 Service, which recognized the Frick’s respon- The shows in 2019 continued to impress Letter from the Director siveness to community feedback while for- with their scholarly innovation, beginning mulating our renovation proposals. In June, with Moroni: The Riches of Renaissance Ian Wardropper the Frick hosted the first of several Open Portraiture, the first major U.S. exhibition House events, providing members, friends, to focus on the portrait paintings of the and neighbors the opportunity to see the sixteenth-century Italian master. It was hon- t has been another memorable year for spaces on the mansion’s second floor that are ored as a Critic’s Pick by New York Times I The Frick Collection. With ground- slated to become permanent collection gal- art critic Roberta Smith, who praised the breaking exhibitions, world-class education leries when the museum reopens following featured works for their “stunning fresh- programs, and unprecedented support from the renovation and enhancement project. ness and clarity.” Opening in April, Tiepolo our loyal members, the museum and library Our ambitious exhibition schedule this in Milan: The Lost Frescoes of Palazzo have pushed the boundaries of their potential past year saw pioneering scholarly research Archinto was inspired by the single painting on many fronts. All of us here are extremely and noteworthy presentations that were Henry Clay Frick acquired by Giambattista proud of these achievements, especially as met with great acclaim. The fall 2018 season Tiepolo, an oil sketch depicting Perseus and we move forward with important plans that began with The Charterhouse of Bruges: Jan Andromeda. The exhibition assembled for will ensure the institution’s continuing suc- van Eyck, Petrus Christus, and Jan Vos. For the first time all known drawings and painted cess for decades to come. only the second time in their history, the sketches the artist made in preparation for a In anticipation of our proposed renova- Frick’s Virgin and Child by Van Eyck and series of frescoes for the Palazzo Archinto tion and expansion project, we announced his workshop was reunited with a simi- in Milan, which was tragically destroyed an arrangement with The Metropolitan lar panel by Christus, both commissions of by bombing in 1943. The Cabinet Gallery Museum of Art that will allow the Frick the Carthusian monk Jan Vos. The exhibi- exhibition Whistler as Printmaker: Highlights to temporarily operate out of the Marcel tion included a selection of monastic objects from the Gertrude Kosovsky Collection Breuer–designed building at 945 Madison that helped to contextualize the rich setting showcased a selection from the promised Avenue during construction. (The building is for which the two panels were created. In gift of forty-two prints by James McNeill owned by the Whitney Museum of American October, we opened Masterpieces of French Whistler, which triples the museum’s works Art.) This location will enable us to continue Faience: Selections from the Sidney R. Knafel on paper by the American expatriate artist. to serve the public while work progresses Collection, which featured the promised gift We rounded out the year with a temporary on our beloved Gilded Age mansion, at the of seventy-five glazed earthenware objects installation by renowned author and cera- same time providing an extraordinary oppor- from the collection of longtime supporter mist Edmund de Waal in Elective Affinities: tunity for visitors to experience the Frick’s and Trustee Sid Knafel. Continuing our Edmund de Waal at The Frick Collection, his permanent collection, programs, and library recent focus on the presentation of works first such site- specific project in the United resources in an entirely new context. by influential but lesser-known decorative States. De Waal’s porcelain, steel, gold, and In May, the proposed plan by Selldorf arts masters (including Pierre Gouthière, in alabaster sculptures recalled the materials Architects received the enthusiastic endorse- 2016–17), we mounted Luigi Valadier: through which Henry Clay Frick made his ment of civitas, a not-for-profit civic orga- Splendor in Eighteenth-Century Rome. The fortune and the many fine European objects nization representing Manhattan’s Upper show was the Frick’s largest decorative arts he so passionately collected. The artist’s East Side and East Harlem neighborhoods. exhibition organized to date, and I am stark installations both echoed and con- I was honored to accept its 2019 August extremely proud that it was recognized as trasted with the luxurious materials found Heckscher Founder Award for Community Apollo magazine’s 2018 Exhibition of the Year. throughout the Frick’s galleries, as well as Annual Report July 2018–June 2019 3 the character and history of the physical an inspiring mentor to a generation of cura- through focused onsite seminars that marry spaces themselves. An accompanying audio torial assistants, and her warmth, humor, the visual and cinematic arts. tour featured de Waal discussing the works and scrupulous attention to detail will be The Frick Art Reference Library carried on display, complemented by music that greatly missed. We wish her all the best going on its nearly hundred-year-old mission to inspired him during their creation. forward. serve its constituents, today a growing com- In May, Xavier Salomon, Aimee Ng, and I The Education Department once again munity of international researchers. To that accompanied a group of donors to Milan for offered a stellar roster of programs, which end, the library pursued a number of digital the annual Director’s Trip. There we gained this year served more than 30,400 people. initiatives to aid scholars working remotely. firsthand insight into the lives and work Guided School Visits introduced the Frick The Digital Art History Lab launched a beta of Tiepolo and Moroni, whose exhibitions to nearly 4,000 students, ranging from mid- version of aries (ARt Image Exploration at the Frick Xavier and Aimee organized, dle school through college, while a variety Space), an interactive platform for viewing respectively. We enjoyed visits to numerous of engaging talks and lectures by world- groups of images. The Center for the History cultural and historically significant sites in renowned scholars informed and inspired of Collecting added a searchable map inter- and around the city, including Bergamo, audiences both onsite and virtually through face to its archives directory, funded by where Moroni lived and worked, and the streamed and archived content. Our popular a grant from The Gladys Krieble Delmas stunning palazzo and gardens of Isola Bella, First Fridays series attracted an enthusi- Foundation. The Photoarchive advanced its on the Lago Maggiore. astic public for free talks, performances, large-scale digitization efforts, and by the end In June, Senior Curator Susan Grace and sketching in the galleries. On average, of March more than 50,000 photographs of Galassi retired after some thirty years of nearly 64% of First Fridays attendees were works of art from the American School had dedicated service to The Frick Collection. first-time visitors. We are grateful to Dr. Tai- been scanned, enabling them to be moved to In recognition of her many contributions Heng Cheng and Cole Harrell, the Stavros offsite storage. This work was made possible, and achievements, she was named Curator Niarchos Foundation, and the New York in part, through a grant by the Andrew W. Emerita. Susan organized an impressive City Department of Cultural Affairs in part- Mellon Foundation. Both the Photoarchive number of groundbreaking and well-received nership with the City Council for enabling us and the Digital Art History Lab embarked exhibitions during her tenure, including to offer this special free evening access on an on collaborations with Cornell and Stanford Whistler, Women, and Fashion (2003); Goya’s ongoing basis. Universities focused on computer vision and Last Works (2006); Picasso’s Drawings, 1890– We are very proud of our innovative the generation of subject headings from 1921: Reinventing Tradition (2011–12); Turner’s collaborations with community, cultural, images using artificial intelligence. Modern and Ancient Ports: Passages through and educational organizations across New In addition to its successful digital ini- Time (2017); and, most recently, Zurbarán’s York City. In September, the Education tiatives, the library also offered a number Jacob and His Twelve Sons: Paintings from Department hosted the Frick’s inaugural of well-received onsite programs, including Auckland Castle (2018).